About ToxicTrailers.com

ToxicTrailers.com was launched after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the government spent more than $2 billion on FEMA trailers with high levels of formaldehyde that sickened thousands of people. The FEMA trailer tragedy exposed what is a widespread problem in RVs, mobile homes, modular buildings and even conventional buildings that use pressed wood products. Unfortunately, as we approach the tenth anniversary of Katrina, formaldehyde regulations are not being enforced in the U.S., and people's health is at risk. If you are having burning eyes, congestion, sore throat, coughing, breathing difficulties, frequent sinus infections or rashes, and difficulties concentrating, you may have a formaldehyde problem. For questions or to share your story, write 4becky@cox.net.

Friday, December 25, 2009

bah humbug to Sen. David Vitter

A big “bah humbug” to Sen. David Vitter for his Christmas Eve victory in getting the EPA to cave in to the Formaldehyde Council with an agreement paving the way for Christmas Eve Senate approval of Paul Anastas as EPA's director of research and development. David Vitter was holding up the confirmation of Anastas in order to do the bidding of the Formaldehyde Council, which wanted a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) review of the formaldehyde toxicity research as a way to delay and dilute effective regulations of this dangerous chemical.Jonathon Tilove reported in the Times Picayune today that EPA had resisted Vitter's pressure, contending the NAS review would delay its ability to issue a risk assessment and new safety standards. Vitter has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from formaldehyde interests.Predictably, the Formaldehyde Council (FC) was delighted that EPA agreed to allow NAS to review the literature. Betsy Natz, executive director of the FC, said "In his time in Washington, Sen. Vitter has acted as a firm advocate in favor of sound science in the development of public policy, consistently resisting the injection of agenda-driven research into environmental regulation."How can she say that with a straight face? Resisting the injection of "agenda-driven research?" What can be more agenda driven than helping the Formaldehyde Council's scientific prostitutes biased reviews of scientific studies to be used to counter the overwhelming scientific evidence that formaldehyde causes cancer, breathing problems, and a host of other health problems?EPA said that the NAS review must be done in an expedited manner. Let's hope that happens, and that NAS doesn't allow biased research reviews paid for by the Formaldehyde Institute to prevent proper regulation of formaldehyde. The Formaldehyde Council isn’t concerned about good science. It just wants to subvert the science and keep the track record it has had for the past 30 years in preventing this dangerous pollutant from being properly regulated. It is great the Anastas, known as the Father of Green Chemistry, was confirmed. Now let's hope he is able to be effective in harnessing the power of green chemistry to find safer alternatives to carcinogens like formaldehyde in common use in our environment.

Warning: RVS and mobile homes may be hazardous to your health!!

Imagine that you have just lost your home in a natural disaster, and are now waiting to get a FEMA trailer for temporary housing. The fact is, you and your family might be better off in a tent or living with friends and relatives, even if it is crowded.

After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA purchased about 102,000 travel trailers at a cost of $2.6 billion to house the victims of the nation’s largest natural disaster. It turns out that the vast majority of these trailers have excessive levels of formaldehyde. See the results of testing done by the CDC that were announced Feb. 29, 2008 at the website http://cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/trailerstudy/ or just Google CDC formaldehyde FEMA study. This website also has links to information for residents and health care practitioners.

From the very beginning people who received FEMA trailers after Katrina reported experiencing problems such as irritated eyes, breathing problems, bloody noses, headaches, nausea, frequent respiratory infections and skin rashes. We know one family that moved from the FEMA trailer into a storage shed on their property because their daughter threw up every time she spent any time in the trailer. Another man sleeping in his driveway next to his trailer said, “My FEMA trailer is killing me!” One couple experienced such heavy chest congestion combined with nose bleeds that they abandoned their FEMA trailer to sleep in their truck.

The CDC testing confirmed three earlier rounds of testing done by Sierra Club in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in 2006 and 2007 with test kits from Advanced Chemical Sensors. Out of 69 tests, 61 were over 0.1 ppm which represents 88 percent of the trailers tested. The tests used 0.1 ppm as the concentration above which health impacts are expected. However, much lower levels are recommended for long-term exposure. The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) Minimal Risk Levels are 0.04 ppm for 1-14 days, 0.03 for 14-364 days and 0.008 ppm for 365 or more days exposure. The lowest of the 69 Sierra Club tests was 0.04. The highest test was 0.39.

As you will see by reading the blogs on this page, the formaldehyde problem is not confined to just RVs and mobile homes purchased by FEMA. Manufacturers state that they didn't do anything differently for RVs and mobile homes sold to FEMA than those sold to the general public. People across the country are reporting formaldehyde problems in not just campers and manufactured housing, but regular homes, offices, churches and schools.

For an in-depth look at this issue including how FEMA and the ATSDR tried to coverup the problem rather than respond to a major public health disaster, see the hearing transcript from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1413.